Combination laminator and separator

Claim 1

A laminator and separator apparatus for making articles from a composite laminate sheet formed of a thick paper backing sheet covered by a thinner metallic foil sheet with a heat curable adhesive located between said foil and paper sheets, comprising: (a) a pair of pressure rollers through which said composite laminate sheet moves with said foil sheet facing upwards with said sheet moving in a linear path, (b) a rotary printing means in said path and operative to print indicia in discrete regions on said foil sheet, (c) a rotary die cutter for cutting a pattern in said laminate sheet with said pattern surrounding said indicia and indicative of said article, (d) a main roller located in said linear path and adapted to receive said composite sheet, (e) a conveyor roller located in said path and separated from said main roller by a predetermined distance, a conveyor belt encircling said conveyor roller, (f) a first and a second roller each having their surfaces coacting and located parallel to said main roller and positioned beneath the same with solely said thick paper backing sheet directed between said rollers, said first and second rollers of a given diameter and adapted to exert a downward force on said paper backing sheet, to cause said article as defined by said pattern to traverse said distance for directing the same to said conveyor belt, with said paper backing sheet moving downwardly towards a first collection site, (g) a guide roller of a diameter less than one half the diameter of said main roller and less than the diameters of said first and second rollers and fabricated from a material which is relatively soft as compared to said first roller, said guide roller positioned above said first roller and in contact therewith with said thin foil sheet directed solely between said guide roller and said first roller to direct said foil sheet in a path transverse to said paper sheet to a second collection site, whereby said paper sheet and said foil sheets are separated and directed to separate locations, and another coacting pair of rollers located a predetermined distance from said guide roller and within the path of said foil sheet, with said sheet of foil passing between said pair of coacting rollers.